


Miles to Go Before I Sleep

by decaf and sleep (kohiii)



Category: Vampire Knight (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Penguins, Alternate Universe - Wings, Gen, Inspired by BBC Earth, Nature is Cruel, Tragedy, baby penguins, they're basically humans with penguin wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24395578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kohiii/pseuds/decaf%20and%20sleep
Summary: Kaname and Zero stray a little too far from the colony at the worst time possible.
Relationships: Kiryuu Zero & Kuran Kaname
Comments: 10
Kudos: 11





	Miles to Go Before I Sleep

"Kaname, it's really cold," Zero mumbled as he pressed closer to the older boy. 

The two of them had wandered off while exploring the ice, and now that the winds were picking up they could no longer see nor hear the rest of the colony. They'd tried to retrace their steps, but the storm around them made it impossible to tell which direction they had come from or where they were going. 

A sudden blast of wind forced Zero down onto the ice, disoriented and helpless as the snow began to pile up around him. His wings flared out in alarm, flapping awkwardly in the cold air in his attempt to get back up. The flurry of snow and sound of his frantic movements alerted Kaname to the fact that the younger boy had fallen behind. 

After that incident, they took to staying close, their tiny hands intertwined tightly as they looked around for the way back. 

They hadn't made it much further when Kaname realized that Zero was getting weaker and slowing down. They'd barely taken ten steps before Zero was stumbling again, this time nearly dragging Kaname down with him. Kaname managed to catch him before his fall, the older boy struggling to keep the both of them upright as furious gusts of wind threatened to topple them over. 

"We have to keep going," Kaname tightened his grip on Zero's hand, worried that his friend would collapse again. 

Staying still was dangerous. His gut instinct screamed at him that once they lost the fight to the cold, it would all be over. They needed to keep moving while they still had the energy to do so. 

Zero blinked slowly at Kaname, his lilac eyes dazed and confused. But he nodded, and when Kaname took a tiny step forward Zero followed after him. 

Every movement was a struggle. It was getting more and more difficult to see anything, and Zero felt weighed down by the snow that clung to him. Occasionally he would try to shake the ice that was building up on his wings, but it was getting harder and harder to do that as well. His mind felt like it was drifting, caught between his harsh reality and the more ephemeral world of his dreams. 

"--ro! Zero!" 

The younger boy turned his head towards the direction of his friend's voice, and his heart nearly stopped for a moment when he realized that he couldn't see anything.

Why was everything so dark? 

Why couldn't he open his eyes? 

Why couldn't he feel anything?

Where was Kaname? 

When Zero began to call out for Kaname in a heartbreakingly panicked voice, nearly wrenching his hand free from Kaname's hold as he twisted around in a frenzy, Kaname pulled his friend's smaller figure into his arms. 

"I'm right here, Zero," he tried to reassure the younger boy even as his own heart fell at the sight of Zero's condition. 

A fine layer of snow covered Zero's shuddering form, and ice had began to form on his eyelashes, sealing Zero's eyes shut. Kaname tried desperately to melt the ice with his own breath, but the temperature around them was too cold and he could do nothing for his friend. 

He felt miserable. 

Kaname hated to admit it, but the numbing coldness was starting to get to him as well. It was becoming harder to move, and with each passing second his limbs felt more like dead weight. He wasn't even sure how long they had been blindly wandering around in this blizzard. There was no sign of the colony anywhere, and all Kaname could hear were the sounds of the raging storm and Zero's ragged breaths. 

"S-Stay close t-to me," he murmured, trying to share as much of his warmth with Zero as he could. But the truth was, neither of them had much body heat left to spare. 

There had to be something he could do.

As they huddled together, Kaname tried to cover the two of them with his small wings, relying on the layer of fuzz to provide them with some shelter against the cold. For a moment, Zero's shivers abated slightly, but as snow continued to pile on top of the two stationary children the younger boy began to shake uncontrollably again. 

Kaname tried not to cry. 

He felt helpless against the unrelenting force of nature. He didn't know how he could help his freezing friend, and he was scared that no matter what he did, it wouldn't be enough. It was also getting harder and harder to keep his own eyes open, and any tears would only exacerbate the situation. 

He had to stay alert for both their sakes. Zero was clearly in no condition to do so, and it was up to Kaname to look out for his friend. That was the very least he could do. 

(That was the only thing he could do.)

Meanwhile, Zero was struggling not to surrender to the weariness that was creeping up on the edges of his mind. Something inside him rebelled against it as alarm bells ringed in his head. He couldn't really feel anything anymore, just vague impressions of arms wrapped around him and a very slight warmth at his front and back. 

It would be so easy to succumb to the comfort that the cold darkness offered him, but there was something that was holding him back. Something that he was forgetting. Something important. 

No,  _ someone _ important. 

"Ka--Kana--me?" Zero rasped weakly, trying to summon the energy to check on his friend. 

There was no response. 

"K-Kana--me!" 

Still nothing. 

He tried to move, but his body was frustratingly unresponsive. 

"S-Say some--something, Kana--m-me." 

Silence yet again, until -- 

A quiet gasp. 

"Z-Ze--ro?" 

Kaname blinked slowly, recognition slowly bleeding back into glazed eyes as he realized the younger boy was calling out for him. They were a sight for sore eyes, large ice chunks forming and clinging onto their shivering forms as the two children clung onto each other in the middle of the storm. 

At his friend's affirmation, Zero almost allowed himself to relax. 

But then he realized that Kaname, who was still trying to shield Zero from the wind with his body and wings, was shaking uncontrollably as they were pelted mercilessly by the wind and snow. Zero forced his body to  _ move _ and he wriggled around in Kaname's hold, trying to reposition them in a way where he too could offer what meager little warmth he had. 

His own fuzz-covered wings slipped free from their shelter and came around to rest on Kaname's sides. Being the younger of the two, Zero's wingspan was not quite large enough to fully wrap around the older boy, but he was determined to try. 

Kaname's lips briefly quirked up in a smile at Zero's attempt, but his smile didn't last long. The cold storm soon took away any semblance of joy he had felt. 

He ducked his head, burying his face in the soft fuzz of Zero's wings as he tried to seek some comfort from the biting wind. 

This was all he could hold onto. The two of them wrapped up in each other's wings, huddling close together for warmth. Zero's slow, shallow breaths and the grip of his friend's hands on the front of Kaname's cloak. And if he strained his ears, Kaname could hear Zero's tiny heartbeat. 

Or he thought he could. 

A spike of alarm pierced through the fog of Kaname's brain when he realized that he could no longer hear the fragile  _ ba-thump  _ he had been unconsciously tracking. Zero's body had stilled, the shivers that wracked the younger boy's small frame now nonexistent. 

The only sound he could hear was the howl of the wind in the air as it whipped the storm around them into a frenzy. 

Maybe his senses were being dulled by the raging blizzard around them. 

That had to be it. 

Because there was no way that Zero was -- 

Zero was -- 

Was --

Sleeping.

His friend was just sleeping. 

Right?

Of course.

Kaname relaxed at the realization, the tension draining out of his body as he tightened his hold around the cold body in his arms. Yes, Zero must've been exhausted from the whole ordeal, and now he was taking a short nap. If that was the case, then Kaname would make sure not to disturb him. 

Kaname blinked slowly, feeling rather drowsy himself as the cold crept up on him. Perhaps he would also take a short rest, just to recover some of his energy. And when they woke up, he and Zero could start up their search again.

Yes…

A nap sounded nice. 

But only a short one, and then he would have to wake Zero up too.

Because they still had promises to keep, and miles to go before they could sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-NEPHPyr_Y) from bbc earth (2:45 - 3:18)  
> i'm sorry (but not really)


End file.
